[rick11]

I really like the HR20 and frankly think it is really great. Initially I had it locking up about 3 times per week. I forced D* to send me a new card which seemed to fix the issue. Now i have had to reset only once in about 4 wks - was trying to record programs as they were running and then when i checked back it showed 0 minutes record. A reset fixed this.

My beef is how long it takes to change channels - it seems like 2 -3 sec which for a channel surfer like me is very frustrating. Basically I can't surf due to this delay. Will this ever go away so that changing stations is almost instantaneous????

thx

 

[325xia]

I really like the HR20 and frankly think it is really great. Initially I had it locking up about 3 times per week. I forced D* to send me a new card which seemed to fix the issue. Now i have had to reset only once in about 4 wks - was trying to record programs as they were running and then when i checked back it showed 0 minutes record. A reset fixed this.

My beef is how long it takes to change channels - it seems like 2 -3 sec which for a channel surfer like me is very frustrating. Basically I can't surf due to this delay. Will this ever go away so that changing stations is almost instantaneous????

thx

Is "Native" On or Off? Could make a difference.

 

[PoitNarf]

Welcome to the forums.

I doubt they'll ever get the delay to seem instantaneous. Guide surfing is superior to channel surfing anyway imo.

 

[jayk]

I have the same problem

Running component into a 5 year old Toshiba CRT rear projection.

Native is off and only 480 is checked.

I haven't had the 30 second channel changing in about a week or so but there is usually a 4-5 second delay. Sometimes less but definitely not 'surf' worthy.

More than a nitpick but certainly not bashing. I've been using UltimateTV for years now and found this interface pretty easy to use. No complaints from the wife either - and she hates change! As long as the shows record.

I am finding the episode recording a bit confusing (and I'm pretty tech savvy) but I haven't really had the time to figure it out. Not bad considering I have recorded almost everything I've wanted. My latest issue is the stupid Showtime rollout of "Sleeper Cell". I didn't realize it was 8 episodes back to back so I didn't set it correctly. Trying to get some older episodes back now.

One thing I do notice is that when the picture changes between commecials I get a weird split second of what looks to be a convergence pop where the screeen goes black except for a few RBG colored lines. Again, it's split second and I notice it on the CRT rear projection.

I hooked up a flat screen HDTV and didn't notice it when I had them simultaneiously side by side(i.e. saw it on the RP but not on the flat screen).

Otherewise pretty happy. I will be moving soon and putting 3 of these units in a rack in the basement and sharing HD over the whole house so I'm hoping to get things chugging within the next few weeks.

Cheers!

Jay

 

[Milominderbinder2]

My beef is how long it takes to change channels - it seems like 2 -3 sec which for a channel surfer like me is very frustrating.

Two things have been report to slow down channel changes on the HR20.

Are you set to Native Mode OFF?

Have you tried changed from HDMI to Component Video?

But even with these settings, the HR20 is still darn slow in changing channels.

Some have speculated that the problem is not D*'s fault. Maybe it takes that long to change channels to change definitions from SD to HD or HD to SD.

Hmmm.

If that were true, changing from one SD channel to another SD channel should be much faster. It really isn't.

If that were true, all HD tuners would suffer the same problem. Check out the HD TV's at Best Buy. Do any HD TV's take this long to tune from one channel to another, even SD to HD and back again? No.

Some have also speculated that the problem is in the slow animations for channel changes in the Guide.

Hmmmm (again).

Granted the Guide is a digital pig, sloshing around in the mud. But the Guide is only this painfully slow when looking through channels. On a channel change refresh the Guide is animating the screen by redrawing it 17 times. The Guide is much faster to move ahead or back in time because it is no longer animated. Somewhere out there is a project manager who just won't admit that animation was a mistake and take it off completely.

Even so, moving in the Guide does not change the channel. If you enter a new channel number or press PREV, there is no Guide to redraw but the HR20 still needs to go get a cup of coffee first.

So why is the HR20 so slow to change channels when other HD tuners are not this slow?

It's not that HD to SD has to take this long. It is not due to Guide Animation.

So what's left?

- Craig

 

[bonscott87]

I really like the HR20 and frankly think it is really great. Initially I had it locking up about 3 times per week. I forced D* to send me a new card which seemed to fix the issue. Now i have had to reset only once in about 4 wks - was trying to record programs as they were running and then when i checked back it showed 0 minutes record. A reset fixed this.

My beef is how long it takes to change channels - it seems like 2 -3 sec which for a channel surfer like me is very frustrating. Basically I can't surf due to this delay. Will this ever go away so that changing stations is almost instantaneous????

thx

I take it you've never had a DVR before?
Actually if it's only taking 2-3 seconds that is pretty fast for a DVR and it won't get a whole lot faster then that. If you had Native to On it might be more like 3-5 seconds. HDMI can incur a further delay. But if you only have 2-3 seconds that is pretty darn good.
Why the delay? Because a DVR needs to dump it's current buffer and then buffer up the new channel. It's always recording the current channel. So this take a couple seconds to do that.
Even a DirecTivo takes a couple seconds to change the channel.
A DVR's prime function is not for channel surfing but for recording. So if you are a huge channel surfer a DVR, any DVR, may not satisfy you. You might want to consider having both a DVR for recording and a non-DVR receiver for your channel surfing.

 

[Jeremy W]

I take it you've never had a DVR before?

A DVR? Hell, any digital TV service. I've never seen a digital TV service with instant channel changes.

 

[LameLefty]

I have the same problem

Running component into a 5 year old Toshiba CRT rear projection.

Native is off and only 480 is checked.

What kind of Toshiba RPTV? My old Toshiba (now in the kids' playroom) is also about 5 years old but it still does 1080i.

 

[sigma1914]

Cable took me just as long to change channels.

 

[CUIllini]

So why is the HR20 so slow to change channels when other HD tuners are not this slow?

It's not that HD to SD has to take this long. It is not due to Guide Animation.

So what's left?

- Craig

Catch-22?

 

[jayk]

I take it you've never had a DVR before?
Actually if it's only taking 2-3 seconds that is pretty fast for a DVR and it won't get a whole lot faster then that. If you had Native to On it might be more like 3-5 seconds. HDMI can incur a further delay. But if you only have 2-3 seconds that is pretty darn good.
Why the delay? Because a DVR needs to dump it's current buffer and then buffer up the new channel. It's always recording the current channel. So this take a couple seconds to do that.
Even a DirecTivo takes a couple seconds to change the channel.
A DVR's prime function is not for channel surfing but for recording. So if you are a huge channel surfer a DVR, any DVR, may not satisfy you. You might want to consider having both a DVR for recording and a non-DVR receiver for your channel surfing.

I hate to disagree here but as I mentioned in my earlier post - I have been using UltimateTV for years and also have an SD Tivo box. Both are much quicker at channel changes. Perhaps you are correct about the buffering.

Again, this is not nitpicking but you shouldn't have to give up normal channel changing speeds for the DVR - didn't have to do it before.

My main concern is that perhaps the delay in changing the channel (again, I have actually counted 20-30 seconds at times :eek2: although not that often lately) affects the recording. We've had some missed programs and I wonder if the gray/black screens while waiting for picture and sound don't throw the recording off.

What kind of Toshiba RPTV? My old Toshiba (now in the kids' playroom) is also about 5 years old but it still does 1080i.

Toshiba TheaterView TP50H509. I think it also does the 1080i via component but I switched it to 480 to see if the channel changing got any quicker. Seemed to help - or maybe it was the updates- who knows?!?:grin: I just bought 7 TVs for our new house we will be moving into in 2 months and I'm trying to figure out what to do with this TV and some of my CRT's and surround receiver and speakers. No kid's room - any ideas?

Thanks!

Jay

 

[teebeebee1]

i just got my d* HR20 today too and it is a bit slow changing channels, but i can't complain, i finally found a tech able to tune my 5lnb dish! AMAZING!


What exactly is native mode?

 

[BobV]

First hello all..

I have native mode on and I am using hdmi for video only.
There is a delay of about 3 seconds on channel changes.
But that is expeted with a new hr20 until things get better.
My hr10 was just a wee bit faster.:lol:

 

[BJM]

I rarely channel surf, and I really like the miniguide for "surfing" though I usually just check out a few channels at a time.

 

[I.M. Nobody]

I just down loaded 10b I hope this speeds up the channel change time. Before 10b it took 6 to 8 seconds. I will let you know